The mission of the Experimental Design and Biostatistics Core is twofold: 1) to provide consulting and research support services to the projects included in the present proposal; and 2) to support and facilitate the development of new research projects, which will become affiliated with the Center. The Core will bring together a team of three senior statisticians who have extensive experiences in developing and implementing funded studies. By virtue of their experience in all phases of the research process, the Core Statisticians are prepared to offer a core comprehensive array of support services than is usually provided by a statistical consulting unit, including help with writing grant proposals, as well as writing manuscripts for publication. Assistance will be available from the earliest stages of problem formulation through final interpretation and publication of results. Core B personnel will be located at two separate sites: The Core Director and another faculty-level statistical consultant will be located at the U. of Iowa, while the Core Co-Director will be located at the University of Pittsburgh. The inclusion of an MS-level Biostatistics Specialist (at the Pittsburgh site) and a Data Manager/Programmer and data entry clerks (at the Iowa site) will enable the Core to provide all the data processing and analysis services that Center projects will require. The Pittsburgh site (under direction of a geneticist, Dr. Marazita) will have primary responsibility for statistical genetic analyses, while the Iowa site will be more responsible for more general biostatistical methods and design consulting. The proposed Core staff at the Iowa site is already organized as a Core unit and has been serving three on-going center projects in the College of Dentistry. The proposed 2-person staff of the Pittsburgh site have also worked together for several years. And the coordination of these two units should be a simple matter.